NIGEL Farage’s Reform Party has overtaken the Conservatives in a major poll of public opinion for the first time, in the latest blow to the Tories’ hopes in the election campaign.
A YouGov poll commissioned by the Times newspaper had Reform at 19% to the Conservatives 18% of voting intention, in a “crossover” moment for the two parties.
Labour still sits in the lead at 37% of voting intention, with the Liberal Democrats at 14%, the Greens at 7%, the SNP at 3%, Plaid Cymru at 1% and others at 2%.
The poll was conducted on a sample size of 2,211 adults in Britain between June 12 and 13.
READ MORE: John Swinney rows back on SNP's 'independence negotiations' pledge
Farage lauded the poll and framed his party as the challenger to Labour as he and other senior figures from political parties met for ITV’s latest election debate.
“I am Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK. Just before we came on air we overtook the Conservatives in the national opinion polls. We are now the opposition to Labour,” he said.
The poll came at the end of a day when Labour and Plaid Cymru launched their election manifestos.
At his launch in Manchester, Keir Starmer said Labour had a plan to turn the country around after 14 years of Tory “chaos” but cautioned that there would be “no quick fix” if he is handed the keys to No 10 by voters on July 4.
Launching a manifesto which contained no new policy announcements, Starmer denied he was being overly cautious in his efforts to put his party back in power for the first time since 2010.
Repeatedly stressing how he had changed Labour since taking over from Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer said he was now offering a “serious plan for the future of our country”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel